Yem. 9-11.-The arm of Jehovah. Either the people call on Jehovah, or he is concerned as calling on himself to awake and rouse up his might for the defence of his people as in the days of old. I. THE ARM OF JEHOVAH AS SYMBOLIC OF HIS POWER. It is the symbol of spiritual power opposed to that of darkness, death, the under-world. He is said to have "smitten Rahab, and woUDded the dragon." Commonly this has been understood of Egypt, but the reference seems to be more general. It was in ancient thought, generally, the property of a god to be the slayer of monsters, who all of them represent hellish influences. It is spiritual power opposed to worldly violence. He bad dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, and made therein a way for the released to pass over. Egypt was the dark historic memory of the people. Its king might well be compared with the fiendish monster of darkness (Ezek,. xxix. 3; xxxii. 2; Ps. xxxiv. 13, H) . .And so the passage of the Red Sea was the standing symbol of deliverance, of redemp- tion (see Ps. cv.). And in our own hymns and sacred allusions Egypt stands for the bondage of sin, the captivity of the mind to sense, to the devil. And the passing over tLe lted Sea may be fitly symbolic of salvation by grace, of regeneration or conversion. The argument is from the past to the future. The God who had overcome all obstacles in the way of their deliverance from Egypt was able to overcome all obstacles in the way of their deliverance from Babylon. He might be expected again to manifest his mercy, and save the nation from oppression. And so, in general, the argument holds good for the Church and for the individual : " Because thou hast been my Refuge, under the shadow of thy wings I will put my trust." The principle is ever applicable. All God's past interpositions on behalf of his people constitute an argument that he will contiuue to regard them. IL THE FUTURE SEEN BY THE LIGHT OF THE PAST. 1. The ransomed of Jehovah shall return. The power that lies in the word "redeemed,'' "ransomed"! All the notions of love, sacrifice, purchase, that are connect~d with it! The assurance that flows from the realization of such a state! God will not <lesert; he cannot lose those whom he has made by so many ties his own. 2. The ;"oy of tl,e return. " The custom of singing on a journey is still co=on in the East. It relieves the tediousness of a journey over extenderl 1,lains, and stirs the camels to greater speed. So the long tedium of the way from Babylon shall be cheered by songs expressive of gladness and praise." "We are travelling home to God." We are under the guidance of a good Pastor, who goes before, who knows his sheep; of a Leader of salvation who has released his people, and will crown his work of redemption by glorification. "Then let our songs abound, And every tear be dry." -We are on the way to new releases and fresh redemptions from ill.---J.
Vere. 12-16.-&postulation against unbeluf. If the Eternal be the Pastor and the Comforter of Israel, what has Israel to fear? I. THE NATURAL TIMIDITY OF THE HEART. We are cravens, all of us. We stand in dread of our own image; we quail before "frail man that dieth, and tho son of the earth-born who is given up as grass." A frown makes us tremble; a menace unmans us. We are the slaves of custom and opinion. Anxiety is ever conjuring up dangers which exist not, and forecasting calamities which do not occur. So were the Jews ever "on the tenter-hooks of expectation. When the •aiming' of the enemy seems to OIi. LI. 1-23.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 267